Tianjin Quanjian head coach Fabio Cannavaro has revealed he called Dries Mertens in a bid to lure the Napoli forward to China.
Cannavaro wanted just about every single striker in Europe to add to his squad before the new Chinese Super League season started on Friday before ending up with no one.
The Tianjin manager attempted to sign the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Karim Benzema and Falcao and has now revealed his failure to convince Mertens to swap Italy for China.
“I spoke to Mertens and tried to bring him with me. But when we were talking, he started scoring regularly for Napoli. In any case, we never went beyond a chat,” he told Het Nieuwsblad, via Football Italia.
Mertens has largely spent most of his time at Napoli as a substitute but has exploded into life this season in the wake of Gonzalo Higuain’s departure to rivals Juventus last summer.
The Belgium international had only managed 22 league goals in his first three seasons at Napoli and has already scored 16 times this season, a feat that only three players can claim to better in the league this term.
For more stats on Dries Mertens, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
